Staff Member

Service plug-ins from third-party developers let you add new chat services to iChat. Installing a plug-in is simple. Once its downloaded, double-click it. Plug-ins run in a separate process to help ensure that they wont damage your system.

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This sounds very interesting, I have always liked iChat but it has never supported MSN which is what I use.

I've been able to do MSN (and Yahoo!) in iChat for a while using Jabber transports. It's just far too much trouble for the average person to set up.
First you have find a Jabber server that supports the transport you want (I originally went with chatmask.net then with jabber.hot-chilli.net when they folded), then you have to set up the transports you want to use (using a dedicated Jabber app like PSI or a web interface if they have one), next you have to mess with the usernames so they reflect the jabber transport they are being routed through for example "username" on Yahoo! messenger becomes "username@yahoo.jabber.hot-chilli.eu" and "username@live.com" on MSN messenger becomes "username\40live.com@msn.jabber.hot-chilli.eu", then they still have to authorize you.

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